Here Are the Winners and Losers of Gamescom 2015

Associate Editor ZhiQing Wan’s Gamescom BIG Winner and Loser

WINNER: Metal Gear Solid V

For me, the most impressive showing at this year’s Gamescom had to be Konami’s video walkthrough of Metal Gear Solid V’s Mother Base. I loved that the entire 30-minute video didn’t show off any of the main campaign at all, and almost everything within Mother Base itself was optional content, which just goes to show how massive Metal Gear Solid V is going to be.

From Ocelot forcing Big Boss to take a shower to being able to invade other players’ bases and steal their resources, it was really heartening to see how much the Metal Gear Solid series has developed over the last decade, even if this is indeed going to be Kojima’s final entry into the franchise.

Not to mention, most of the coverage we’ve seen of the game thus far has all been very serious – unsurprising, considering that the primary theme of The Phantom Pain is revenge. However, the Mother Base walkthrough reassured fans that MGS V still knows how to be silly and I’m thrilled by the variety in content we’ll be getting in this latest installment.

LOSER: Final Fantasy XV

As I’m sure fans of the series must be aware by now, Final Fantasy XV has been in development for about nine years. But this year, it’s starting to feel like we might finally get a release date and even more concrete information about the game itself. While we didn’t get to see the game at this year’s E3, Square Enix promised that they would have new information to share in coming events, along with a few important announcements about the game. Needless to say, many speculated that the company might be ready to announce the game’s release date.

So when Gamescom rolled around, and Square Enix teased on the official FFXV Twitter account that they had a big, brand new trailer coming up, all eyes fell on them. Unfortunately, all we got out of Gamescom was an uneventful, though rather emotional trailer that raised more questions than answers, as well as an equally uninformative Active Time Report with game director Hajime Tabata.

Aside from the cool Marlboro reveal, everything else about the game is still being kept under wraps, and fans have once again been told to “please be excited” and look out for “future updates”. With all the hype that Square Enix has been building up since skipping out on this year’s E3, what little we got to see of Final Fantasy XV at Gamescom has proven to be extremely disappointing, to say the least.

Associate Editor Justin Carter’s Gamescom BIG Winner and Loser

WINNER: Xbox

Let’s not mince words: the Xbox One hasn’t exactly had it good since its 2013 release. Some bad interviews, an unclear grasp of what the thing can do, and a frankly outrageous price point did Microsoft no favors. Even with promising titles like Sunset Overdrive and Halo 5, I wasn’t ready to fork over that much dough for stuff that wasn’t going to be out for another year or two. But over the past year, they’ve really come a long way towards turning things around. Now that they’ve got a clear idea on what they want the system to be, Microsoft has been doing whatever they can to get people on board, and I’m seriously sold on getting an Xbox One whenever possible.

Microsoft has always been geared more towards third party offerings, so it was surprising to see them at Gamescom pushing the first party games. Seeing Scalebound for the first time was an actual delight, and the promise of four players with their own dragons in the world simultaneously fulfills all my dreams. We finally got some footage of Crackdown 3, but there definitely needed to be more. I need to see Agents taking down criminals with crazy new weapons and gadgets! I’m always a sucker for surprise announcements like backwards compatibility for Just Cause 2, Halo Wars 2 out of no where, and cross-play for Bloodstained. There’s no denying it: Microsoft won Gamescom.

LOSER: PlayStation

But for every winner, there’s a loser, and the loser for Gamescom would have to be PlayStation. I don’t have a particular dog in the console war, since I just go by whatever system has games that appeal to me, but I do wish Sony would’ve shown up. Even if it had been nothing more than a highlight reel of their top selling games or upcoming titles for 2016, it would’ve at least been something.

As it stands, it gives the impression that they “gave” the event to Microsoft as a courtesy or just plain didn’t care, and I’m not sure which one is worse. Considering that their fall lineup is drier than the Sahara, you’d think they’d even try to pimp the Uncharted Collection, but nope! Not a thing. I know they’ve got some stuff to show in September or October, but it doesn’t hurt to remind people why they bought a PlayStation 4 in the first place.

Senor Editor Ishmael Romero’s Gamescom BIG Winner and Loser

WINNER: Xbox

Gamescom 2015 was actually pretty impressive on all fronts. We got to see a lot of new things, and some actual gameplay of things we’d already heard about which was definitely more to my liking. So picking one winner among everything that was shown is pretty difficult. But, if I had to choose something it would be Xbox as a whole.

They had a great showing at E3 although they were kinda drowned out by other companies who also had great showings. They managed to bring that same energy and focus to Gamescom and rocked it. Impressive gameplay of every game they showed as opposed to all of the CGI at E3. Major announcements about the backwards compatibility and they didn’t waste much time on stuff outside of gaming. A strong lineup helped carry them to the front for me.

LOSER: The Sims 4 Dance Party

If I had to pick a loser for Gamescom that will be really difficult. Everyone had a legitimately solid showing. But, there was one moment during the week where I was slightly embarrassed for the person on stage. After the Sims 4 segment of the EA briefing they tried a bit too hard to be cool. Triggering a sudden party with strobe lights, music, and a complete dance crew. Nobody clapped, nobody was excited, nobody asked for this. It was funny in a sort of sad way, but I can’t knock them for trying.

Managing Editor Ed McGlone’s Gamescom BIG Winner and Loser

WINNER: Xbox

It’s getting redundant I’m sure, but I too will have to echo just how fantastic Xbox’s lineup was at Gamescom. It was essentially the E3 lineup plus more and minus getting completely upstaged by Sony and the Final Fantasy VII remake. Xbox in a lot of ways had the limelight to themselves and completely took advantage of it. It’s very easy to make the argument that the Xbox One has the best lineup of exclusives going forward.

In particular, I was impressed Quantum Break which wowed me with its one-two punch combination of unique time warping third-person shooter mechanics and its story heavy narrative. Also it was great to finally see what Scalebound is going to be. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Platinum Games, and I have to admit an Action-RPG with co-op multiplayer elements pleasantly caught me by surprise,

LOSER: Mass Effect and Persona Fans

This one is probably very personal to me, but I’m sure a lot of readers can relate. Every conference that goes by that I don’t get to see anything of the new Mass Effect and/or Persona, I die a little on the inside. Persona 5 especially. I mean COME ON, it’s supposedly only a few months away and we still barely know anything about the game outside of a few trailers. If it doesn’t literally take over the Tokyo Game Show I’m going to start to go into full on panic mode.

Mass Effect Andromeda was only announced a couple of months ago at E3, I get it. Am I greedy for wanting more? Probably. Still though, that trailer wasn’t enough, I almost forgot it existed. I want to see some gameplay, get some details on the story. Something, anything! As of right now it’s still a total mystery and my heart can’t take it.

These are our opinions but your winners and losers might look different. Let us know in the comments!